Wayfinding Systems - Crit Feedback

Crit feedback -

'the first idea would work best but is it possible to do?'
'the first idea is the strongest and its more interactive so it fits the brief of working for a shop where the idea is they go for the experience' 
'the sign idea would look slightly childish, its bait to informal for a book store that wants to be portrayed as serious'
'the signs idea would have to have too many signs to be at every turning point where the information is needed' 
'the idea of symbols is direct, it allows the audience not to think but you'd have to make sure each symbol represented the genre best' 
'maybe combine ideas? look at working with the style of background from the first idea but use symbols as signs incase the background is missed'
'yeah try combining ideas'
'type idea seems bait to obvious, its been done before to many times and i feel that makes it boring, the visuals work but i'm not sure which idea would fit best for the brand, they want to seem serious in the factual section so make sure this is show, not too childish'
'font used on the signs isn't very legible. its good you found a font that fits all types of fiction books but maybe look at legibility more, actually this the same for the children's type, its nice but i can read it from far away' 
'symbols will stand out against type well, the could work the best'
'the typography idea will need work but the idea of having it hanging down from the celling might be effective as its noticeable and give a good way to create sections for each parts but it might look overly complicated in a busy shop'


This crit has given feedback on which ideas are the most popular, the first idea has the most positive result so because of this i will try and mock up some ideas to see if its possible to create or if there is any issues with the formality of it. The first seems to be a god concept and mock it up will allow me to see if its can be actually create and how it looks when i try because it may look overpowering because of the different colours of the books ect in the contextual background, to see this i'll create 2-3 mock up for some genres and see how they work.
-mock up idea 1

Idea 2, In a shop full of type the feedback was mostly that the symbols could be more effective because they would contrast this the most, they'd use a style that doesn't need much room or space and they can work at smaller sizes which would san they could fit around the existing systems already. the symbols would have to be very clear and direct well, they'd need to be universally understood by everyone. combine this idea with the first was very poplar idea, to use the sales and work them together so they combined and uses both concepts but both in a more clean uncomplicated way.

Idea 3 had very negative feedback, people understood the theory behind it but felt it wouldn't work on a practical scale as the signs would have to be very noticeable and large to stand out as some book covers, this would be a struggle as some books do include typeface like the covers swell as the colours don't stand out enough against the busy background because the primary colours are uses a lot in book design. The idea wouldn't be noticeable enough therefore doesn't fit with the theory of way finding which means it wouldn't be suitable or useful. another issues is how many different path ways there are in waterstones, I didn't think about how many different path ways there are so therefore this idea will not be taken forward.

The feedback i received for the crit after showing my ideas was very mixed, people had very different views on which idea would be the most effective but the main two that stuck out as effective where idea 1 and idea 2. People could understand why symbols would work best in an environment full of typography and also how this could be apply to idea 1. Also people didn’t like the other two ideas much as they felt they were already done or wouldn’t fit with the professional feel of the feel of the shop. Lead me to developing idea 1 into a mock up and developing for the symbols needed digital, these symbols would be taken from my survey results where i asked about people associated with each different genre in the book shop. Using the survey results made sure the symbols reflect the ideas of the many associated with each genre rather than just my personal views, it also gave up so new ideas i wouldn’t have thought of for each genre.